


Between the sheets of dust you found my name (and brought me back to life).

by Erispeth



Category: Our Life: Beginnings & Always (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Books, Other, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27741394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erispeth/pseuds/Erispeth
Summary: This work is on indefinite hiatus.'Your name is ___ Last. You are 8 years old. You love many things. But there is one thing that you don't like at all - leaving Sunset Bird to spend your summer in damp old mansion. And why exactly can't we bring books, grandma?'A story that began with a stolen key, attic and books.How will it end?Well, you will just have to read to find out.
Relationships: Cove Holden/Main Character | Jaime Last (Our Life), Cove Holden/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. So many rules so little good weather.

Your name is ___ Last. You are 8 years old. You have Mommy and Mom, both of whom you love lots and lots. You also have older sister – Elizabeth, though everyone calls her Lizzie. You love her too, sometimes, when she doesn’t behave like Lizzie, though you know it’s almost impossible. You love Sunset Bird – town you grew up in. You love the ocean, especially swimming, looking for treasures, making sandcastles, everything, you love everything about the ocean. You also love your grandma.

What you don’t like is having to leave Sunset Bird and spend warm perfect summer up north in her big damp mansion. Bleh, like you have nothing better to do. What about all those shells that are just awaiting to be found? And what about warm and soft sand that while it gets everywhere is so fun to play with and lie on? What about that ice cream parlour that has the best ice cream in the entire world? Will you not see the fireflies that without missing a beat appear every year on the hill outside your house?

No new friends to play with, no new memories to make, your future looks drab and filled with hours upon hours spend indoors while the rain continued falling outside the window, just like it’s doing now.

Your name is ___ Last, you are 8 years old and you are on your way to the worst possible summer in your life.

Weather perfectly reflected your mood – fat raindrops fall and cling to car windows sliding down like tears. Just like tears that fall down your cheeks. Unlike Lizzie, whose tantrum was heard throughout the entire neighborhood, yours was quieter but no less frustrated and disappointed. You were leaving everything behind – your Mommy and Mom, friends that visit with their parents every year, your sunny weather and fireflies and ocean and, surprisingly, books.

Book is a weird thing from child’s point of view. Some are boring, some are too weird, but among mass of mundaneness and grossness there were rare pearls of books that were better than almost anything else. Entire worlds opening up and engrossing you inside their stories. Good way to spend time doing something fun while your parents think that you are also doing something useful. Gone, all of it. Grandma said no books, so your moms made sure neither you nor Lizzie smuggled any with you.

You stopped crying and were almost smiling when dark gray clouds finally gave way to bright rays of sunshine, but the thought of no books brought on a new wave of sadness and confusion.

“I don’t understand our grandma.” Lizzie said from your right side. “And I don’t understand our moms. Why do we have to leave? Why couldn’t grandma just come visit us herself? And why do we have to stay entire summer with her?” You had to cover your ears before they fall off from her constant complaining.

“Why do you ask me? How am I supposed to know?”

“I don’t know.” Her frustration was obvious from her tone. “Mo-o-o-m! Mommy! Why do we have to spend entire summer with grandma?”

Mommy looked at Lizzie through rearview mirror.

“Sweetie, we already talked about this.”

“I know, but still…”

“No buts. Your great grandma is a really old woman, when she travels she gets really sick, and your grandma has to look after her so she can’t leave for long.”

“Which doesn’t explain why we have to spend AN ENTIRE SUMMER with her?”

Mom sighed, while Mommy’s forehead creased in exasperation.

“Lizzie, we talked about this too. Both grandma and great grandma want to spend some time with their sweet precious grandkids. And there is no better time and occasion for it than during summer. I promise you that you will like it there, okay?” Mommy winked at Lizzie through rear-view mirror, she just crossed her arms and with a huff looked out of the window. Mommy just sighed tiredly and exchanged look with Mom.

You continued to quietly sit and soak in this unexpectedly good weather while it lasted. You looked up from the ever-changing landscape towards the sky. It was so blue; you don’t remember ever seeing such vibrant blue before. It almost looked like ocean and rare clouds were like sea foam rolling past the horizon and straight onto the field you were passing by.

Your thoughts separated from present moment and flew up into the vast oceans of the sky, between the clouds, among the whales and dolphins of vibrant colors that leisurely floated in and out of sight. You wondered if clouds are made out of water could there really be fishes living in them? If so, would they be different from ocean fishes and how? Maybe they will have feathers? Or maybe they will be clear like glass? Glass fishes. Would they taste like fish or chicken, or maybe they will be cold and smooth like sand?

Were birds the fishes of the sky ocean?

As hours passed by, scenery changed behind the window – ocean turned into fields, fields into forests and forests into even more ocean until it stopped somewhere between cliffy mountain shores and large boreal forests.

“Kids, we are almost there.” Mommy’s words shook you from your reverie.

You brought your gaze back towards the landscape and noticed that, yes, you were quite close to your destination. There further near horizon was a city or, to be more precise, town.

Quaint and tranquil, covered in fog and warmed over by reds and oranges of the setting sun, it looked like something straight out of your fairytale books.

In fact it almost looked unreal.

Lizzie didn’t reply because, as you noticed, she was sound asleep, tired from her earlier tantrum and emotional overexertion. You giggled – she was lightly snoring.

Mommy looked back at you and smiled at your amusement.

“How much longer?”

She reached her arm to ruffle your hair lightly.

“Half an hour at most.”

You settled back into your sit and watched the town get closer and closer.

You reached the town and passed by it.

As it seems, a little winding path, just wide enough for a car to pass through, was your destination.

Hidden from view it led up, towards the top of the hill.

Soon you stopped.

“We are here.” Mommy said

Mom couldn’t help but let out a relieved breath. “Finally.”

The previous tiredness disappeared as if whisked away by magic. You unbuckled your seatbelt and opened the door.

Your shoes weren’t happy with you suddenly deciding to test their integrity by jumping into the nearest puddle.

“___, behave!” Mom laughed as she got out of car. “I understand that being cooped up in the car for hours is no fun, but trust me it’s even less fun for mommies.”

“Pam.” Your Mommy got out of car too and was trying to extract Lizzie from back seat without waking her up.

“What? We are not getting any younger.” She stretched her arms above her head; all of you could hear her spine pop. “See, these old bones aren’t what they used to be.” Mom said while dramatically gesturing with her arms.

Mommy could only shake her head in exasperation. “Alright, grams.” “Lani!” “I need some help here, think your ‘old bones’ can take it?”

While your moms were dealing with Lizzie and baggage you looked towards the mansion.

It was huge, at least two storeys high with attic. And it was wide, way wider than your house back home.

You wandered closer to the doors, when suddenly they opened up and outside stepped a woman who looked similar to your Mom with one exception – she looked old.

She was pleasant to look at and, unlike the old couple who rented condo on your street every year, didn’t give off any bad vibes.

She spotted you and smiled pleasantly in your direction.

“Pamela. Noelani.” She acknowledged both of them with a nod.

Mommy walked over, Lizzie secure in her arms. “Patricia, it’s a pleasure to see you.”

Grandma looked towards Lizzie. “And this must be young Elizabeth. She grew up so much since I last have seen her. And you.” She turns to you. “must be ___. I don’t think you remember me, you were so young when we have met, but my name is Patricia and I am your Mom’s mom and your grandmother. It is nice to meet you.” She smiled and offered a handshake.

You walked closer and took her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“So polite. This must all be your influence, Lani.”

“Mom!”

Both your Mommy and grandma snickered. Mom just sighed. “Can I have some help here, these bags won’t move themselves.”

With the introduction part over you and grandma went to help Mom with baggage while Mommy went inside to put Lizzie into her bed.

Together you quickly moved everything inside.

When Mom finally showed you to your new room you were too tired to do anything, and as you settled on your bed to rest for a little bit, you didn’t notice that you fell asleep.

You were haunted by weird apparitions inside your dreams, but when you awoke you couldn’t remember any of them.

Groggily you got up and shuffled over towards where you knew your personal bathroom was located.

Finally fully awake and in new outfit you took a moment to look around and take in your designated room.

It was larger than the one you had back home, fancier, like in one of the movies about medieval ladies that Mom secretly likes to watch.

You left your room and walked down the corridor towards where you can remember living room was.

You passed by paintings hanging on the walls, different sceneries, abstract art and depictions of people you don’t know. The weird feeling in the air that you ignored yesterday came back full force. Your skin became covered with goosebumps and your hair stood on end. Something was really wrong here but you couldn’t put your finger on what exactly.

“___!” Mommy’s voice pulled you from your thoughts and you raced down the corridor towards where it originated from. You run into the living room and from there into the kitchen. Mommy amusedly looked up when he heard you thundering down the corridor.

“___, what did I tell you about running in the house?”

“Not to?”

She turned back towards the stove and hummed in agreement. “You have to promise that you will behave.” “I promise.” “And that you will do everything that grandma asks you to do?” “Like what?” “Like cleaning your room, and helping with chores around the mansion.”

Your sister took this opportunity to come into the kitchen.

“Boo. It’s summer we are supposed to have fun, not do chores. Have you seen this place, it’s huge! How can we possibly clean it up when it’s just three of us?”

“Not three.”

“Great grandma doesn’t count; she doesn’t do chores because she can’t.”

“Elizabeth!” Mommy looked at Lizzie with clear disapproval. “It doesn’t matter, you should still help as much as you can. Can you promise me that?”

Lizzie looked down, then up, then she looked at Mommy and shrugged.

“Lizzie.”

“Yes, okay, but only if ___ gets as much to do as I. It’s unfair if they get fewer chores just because they are two years younger!”

“That’s not up to me; grandma will be the one to decide who gets which chores.”

Lizzie crossed her arms and went to silently sulk on one of the chairs.

Mommy just shook her head and turned to you. “___, do you mind helping your Mommy out with breakfast?”

You nodded and went to help.

Soon breakfast was ready and plated and everyone was gathered inside the dining room.

Atmosphere was a little solemn, because you knew your mommies wouldn’t be staying for much longer, if they want to get back before it gets too dark they will have to leave really soon. Even Lizzie was quiet and didn’t bother with her usual antics, she too understood that this will be the last time you would be able to see and hug your mommies for the entire summer.

You could call them and talk with them, you could write them letters and they could write you letters in return, but at the end of the day next time you will be able to see them and hug them would be at the end of the summer, when they will come to take you back home. There will hundreds of miles between you and this was a thought that put a damper on your already bad mood.

You quietly finished breakfast and went to see your mommies off on their journey back to Sunset Bird.

It was slow and painful, there were tears and hugs and kisses and kind words of encouragement, but in the end both Lizzie and you had to be physically separated from your mommies before it was too late for them to leave today.

Mom crouched to your level and put hand on yours and Lizzie’s heads in placating gesture.

“It’s going to be alright kids. You will have a good summer here with grandma and great grandma. There is an ocean too, you know. All will be good, you won’t even notice how quick time will pass and we all will be back together. Okay.”

You nodded, feeling hopeful that all will be good, just like Mom said.

Lizzie didn’t look at Mom but nodded too.

Mommy came up to Mom and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Pam. It’s time.”

“Yes, right. So, kids remember this, your moms love you lots and lots. Never forget it.”

“We love you too, lots and lots.” You said quietly.

She smiled and crouched once more to put a big kiss on your forehead. She turned to Lizzie and put another on hers. Lizzie made a face but you can see that her lips slowly turned from a frown into a smile.

“Yeah, of course we love you too. Just don’t forget to take us back before the fall starts, because if you do you will have to be the on explaining to teachers why we aren’t in school.” Lizzie sniffled softly afterwards.

Both Mom and Mommy laughed at that.

“Be good. We will call you when we get back.” Mommy winked at you both. You smiled.

They got into the car and with the last wave left.

You stayed in front of the house waving until they hid behind the treeline. Lizzie ran back into the house. She took it harder than you thought she would. You decided to leave her be, you knew that the way she is now she would just lash out at everyone, better let her work through this on her own.

You went back into your room to unpack your stuff.

You were almost done when your grandma knocked on your door.

“May I come in?”

“Sure grandma.”

She stood in the doorway and looked around your room.

“I see you are almost done with unpacking.” You nodded. “Good. Come down, please, there is something I need to talk to both you and your sister about.”

You hopped off the bed and followed after grandma.

You came inside the living room and set on the couch beside Lizzie.

Grandma took a chair and set across from you.

“As you know well, there are a couple rules that I would like for you to be aware of.

First. Your great grandma is a very old woman, she needs her peace and quiet, so do behave yourselves. Don’t run around on the second floor, don’t play on second floor, don’t scream, laugh loudly or be otherwise noisy.

Second. There are chores that you are supposed to help with. It won’t take a lot of time out of your doubtlessly very busy day; you will still have a lot of time to play and do everything else that you wanted to.

Third. You are not allowed to go behind the fenced area, unless you are supervised. This includes town, forest and any other places you might want to visit.

Forth. Under no circumstances are you allowed to go into the attic.”

“Why?” Lizzie was the one to ask.

“Young lady, rules are meant to be followed, not questioned.”

Lizzie fumed. “Why not? It’s a good question.”

“Yeah, I would like to know too.” You piped out as well.

She looked at both of you and then continued as if you didn’t say anything. It was frustrating, and you could say that Lizzie was quietly fuming from beside you.

“Again, under no circumstances are you allowed to go into the attic.

And last but not least. You are not allowed to bring any books inside the mansion, whether they are written or printed. For those who wish to read a book there is an excellent library in the town that is free to visit.

That will be all. You are dismissed.”

And without any other words she got up and went up the staircase to the second floor.

“ARGH! This is just!..” Lizzie had no words to describe sheer anger and frustration she felt at being treated in such a way.

“Agreed! This is just so ARGH!” You were frustrated to.

“I know that she is our grandma but how dare she talk to us like this!”

“So condescending.” You mumbled.

“Exactly! Like we are just some random kids!”

You continued on like this for a while until you talked most of your negative emotions out.

“I just can’t. I’m going to sleep. Night, ___.”

“Night, Lizzie.”

You gathered yourself and went to your room.

This is going to be a long, long summer and now you weren’t quite sure how much you will enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my first language, and while my vocabulary is somewhat okay my grammar isn't.  
> If you see any mistakes please point them out to me.
> 
> I am not sure for how long I will have inspiration to write this but maybe actually posting something will stimulate me to write more, who knows.
> 
> Hopefully after this long introductory chapter things will go a little quicker.


	2. Daydreams and keys.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where things go back to normal before they become even weirder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of weirdness in this chapter. And a lot of using the word 'weird'.  
> Don't be weirded out!
> 
> _'Thoughts.'_

Despite your initial worries, things went smoothly after that first disastrous day. You were still sad that your Mommies weren’t here and you still felt uncomfortable being alone with grandma, but those two things aside you were doing pretty good. There was an entire new town that you had never been to, new people you can get to know and befriend (if you felt like it) and giant mansion that had so many nooks and crannies you felt like it would take more than your lifetime to explore them all. There was so much to do that you didn’t even know where to start. Good thing you had an entire summer.

With more enthusiasm than you thought you had in you, you began your great adventure. Venturing into town, spending time in the forest, looking into every room in the mansion, all of these and more under the supervision of kind and caring woman named Marian who was a volunteer helping your grandma with household chores and more.

Unsurprisingly Lizzie made quick friends with one of the boys in town. He reminded you of Shiloh, in that he always followed her everywhere and let her decide all the activities that they did. Maybe this part of normalcy helped Lizzie adjust to the new arrangement or maybe it’s just in her nature to bounce right back. Whatever the case you were happy that she was finally back to her normal self, because upset Lizzie was not a Lizzie you wanted to deal with, especially not when summer had only began.

Like this your days passed by. First day turned into second, second into third, third into a week and, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, it was already middle of June. Where did the time disappear to you have no idea, what you do know is that the secret of the attic still haunts your waking and sleeping hours, but no matter how hard you tried to pry the door open you couldn’t do it. Maybe with some hand tools it would be possible, but grandma would become too suspicious if a hammer or crowbar suddenly went missing and the amount of racket it would make would certainly attract unwanted attention. The last thing you want is to be on bad terms with a person you spend the most time inside the house with. So you had to endure and wait for an opportunity or a miracle.

It was a wonderful sunny day; you were sitting in the garden and drawing flowers. It’s not like there was anything else to do – Lizzie took her new best friend (how quickly she forgot that Shiloh existed) to explore the nearby playground, after all she needed a new place to call her own and what better to monopolize than a place where all children in the town spend time? And of course Marian went to supervise her.

You stayed back, because after what she did yesterday (decided to break into the pantry and steal some cinnamon, because she read somewhere that it’s supposedly good for your skin, which it is but she could have just asked. “It’s too boring” she said instead. And you agreed. Guess who got caught after one of the glass bottles fell and broke? Here is a clue – not her.) you didn’t want to get caught up in one of her usual escapades.

Though now that you were sitting all alone in the garden with no one to talk to or play with you were having some second thoughts. Maybe you should have gone with Lizzie? But then again, after yesterday you didn’t have any energy to deal with whatever the hurricane named Elizabeth decided to bring.

You set aside your unfinished drawing and lay on your back. Sky was so clear today with barely any clouds. You imagined that this cloud was Mom cloud and that one was Mommy cloud and here they meet and hug. You thought it was funny, but then you thought that you wanted a hug too. You became sad. Good day turned sour. But even still sun continued to warm you and you didn’t notice how your eyelids grew heavier with each blink until you couldn’t find any strength or desire to lift them again. Bright colors of outside world became dimmer with each passing second and soon you were snoozing away, far from unpleasant thought that appeared unwanted in your head.

In your dreams you saw a door, shaped like a flower. You reached towards it, but no matter how hard you tried it remained beyond your reach. You tried harder and this time, as if listening to your unvoiced thoughts, it opened up, but just a smidge. Through the crack you could see a room filled with dusty books. In the middle you could see something or maybe it was someone, you couldn’t be sure either way.

You didn’t notice how suddenly you were standing right in front of the door, your hand on the handle. You tried to open it further to better see what was in there, but no matter how hard you pulled nothing happened; it continued to mock you with what you couldn’t have.

Suddenly, when you were so busy trying your hardest, a shade dashed inside the room, right in front of the door.

You stumbled back tripping over your own feet and falling on your back, your heart hammering in your chest, breathing quick and shallow.

_‘What was that?’_ you thought. But there was no one who could answer your question.

You felt something cold near your leg and looked down. It was a key. It must have fallen out of the lock when you were trying to open the door.

You took it into your hand. It was heavy and looked antique, like something that belonged in a historical museum.

You tossed it and let it fall into your hand. It felt real, but then again don’t all dreams feel real until you wake up?

No, no, this felt absolutely different. It felt too real and since you never before could move and think and do things consciously in your dreams it felt too freaky. Yet it felt even freakier trying not to think about the weirdness that you were experiencing at the moment.

With this inner debate you didn’t notice how the world began to shift. Blackness that covered everything except the door began to move, thin tendrils slowly moving as if led by the hand of invisible conductor.

Tighter and tighter they squeezed around you, until you saw bright dots in front of your eyes. And then it all went away. The last you thing you remember seeing, before you were whisked away from this weird daydream, was a little boy with pale green hair and sad frown.

You sit up with a jolt. _‘What? Where?’_ you thought until you remembered that you were simply in the garden drawing some flowers because you couldn’t come up with anything better to do.

You took a deep breath. _‘What was that?’_ You couldn’t shake off the feeling that it wasn’t a simple dream.

Before you could dive deeper inside your thought, the feeling of something cold and heavy in your hand jolted you back into present moment.

_‘What the?..’_

It was a key. But not just any key, it was the exact key you saw in your daydream.

_‘But how is it possible? I must be dreaming.’_

You pinched yourself.

“Ow!”

It hurt, which doesn’t mean that you weren’t dreaming, it might just be one of those extremely realistic dreams.

You gathered all your things and went inside, if it is a dream then there is no need to hurry, things can’t get weirder than they already are.

Before walking through the door you had enough good sense to hide the key in case your grandma decides to check on you right away.

Your fear was for naught seeing as how you saw no one on your way to your room.

Once inside you put your things away and walk inside bathroom. You wash your face thoroughly and look at yourself in mirror. Now you must be awake, after such cold water there is no way you were still sleeping which can mean only one thing – there was no key, because you weren’t dreaming anymore it wouldn’t be there and there was absolutely nothing to worry about, like where it came from and what did it open. No, nothing to worry, because it wasn’t the…  
...re. It was. It was indeed there, as real as the first time you found it lying in your palm.

Oh no. Oh no. OH. NO.

What is this? Why is this? There was a key that wasn’t there before and you weren’t sleeping.

You dreamed this key and now it was here.

You loved fairytales but this was a level of weirdness that was weird even for you.

You slowly put the key on your bed, as if afraid that it will bite you.

It didn’t. It just continued innocently laying as if it didn’t just shatter your normalcy.

You started to pace around your room, many ideas and theories swarming inside your head.

You quickly tired yourself out and stopped. You just stood there staring at the key.

You took it and hid it in the top drawer of your nightstand.

_‘I don’t want to deal with this now, let this be problem for tomorrow me.’_ With these thoughts you went on with your day as if nothing happened.

Nothing else weird happened during the rest of the day. Lizzie came back a proud freeholder of town’s playground, after all, as she said, “Queen needs land to rule and don’t worry, I will be a kind and magnanimous ruler.” You have no idea where she learned the word magnanimous, but you hoped that she would be true to her word and won’t start to take taxes of candy from parents and children who wanted to play in her playground, oh sorry, you meant her kingdom. Of course what else would it be?

You also noticed that grandma was fidgety the entire evening. You even asked her what was the matter to which she answered nothing and for you not to fill your head with unnecessary worries, though you could clearly see that it wasn’t nothing, it must be something to make her loose composure like this.

“I am really worried. Please, grandma, tell me what is it and how I can help you.”

She looked at you closely.

“You know, you are truly you mothers’ child. Just like them, too nice, too kind, always bothering with other people’s problems.”

You were right, grandma was being weird and it made you uncomfortable.

“Grandma?”

“Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I get stuck in my own head. I can’t find a key that opens pantry room. I must have lost it somewhere, or left. Your grandma’s memory isn’t what it used to be. But there is nothing to worry about.” She looked above your shoulder towards the clock. “And look at a time, it’s so late. I think little children need to go to sleep, don’t you think so?”

“But I am an adventurer.”

“Then, as a little adventurer you especially need your sleep. You wouldn’t want to stay the entire day inside with your grandma, just because you were too tired to go outside, now would you?”

You gasped in mock horror. Of course you wouldn’t! What would you even do with your grandma, knit and watch some Mexican soap opera? No, thank you!

She laughed at your expression.

“Which is why you should go to sleep now, before it’s too late and all sleep fairies get off from work. But then again, maybe you will just get lucky and there will be one particularly hardworking fairy working overtime to bring dreams to all the children who go to sleep late.”

Sometimes grandma was just so cringey. Nice, but cringey.

“I am going. I am going.” You turned to walk towards you room only to stop when you reached the door.

You turned towards grandma.

“Night, grandma.”

She looked at you and smiled.

“Night, ___. Sleep tight…”

Your lips tagged into a smile. Your Mommy would always say these exact words and you knew exactly what to answer in this situation.

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

With this you left and your grandma set in her recliner near the fireplace.

Sleep evaded you. You tossed in bed trying to find the right angle to fall asleep but no matter what you did, you couldn’t find the right position, something was always wrong. If only you knew what.

You stopped moving and looked at the ceiling.

Your gaze moved on its own, turning towards the nightstand where you knew the key was lying.

You looked back towards ceiling. _‘No.’_

Yet again you found your gaze wandering towards the top drawer.

You sit up in frustration. _‘No. No. No. Stop it!’_

But no matter how hard you tried you would end up looking at the place where the key was.

Finally with a groan you got up and took it out.

Here in the faint light of the moon, old key looked almost magical, it even seemed to glow.

You turned it whichever way, looking at how it catches minuscule amount of light from the window and…

Well, this is new.

Faint lines appeared on its surface. The pattern looked familiar. In fact, you knew very well where you have seen it before. You made so many attempts at snooping around the second floor. So many of them ended in being escorted back to the first floor by either your grandma or Marian. But some were quite successful. One such success allowed you to see the hatch leading to the attic. It had patterns on it. The same patterns that appeared on a key.

Does it mean that this is a key to the attic? The same key that, you were almost sure, your grandma must have been looking for today. It was here, in your palm. You could finally put an end to the mystery; finally find out what is hidden there.

You were giddy with excitement. Well, there goes your sleep. It’s not like you can simply leave it be. When else will the opportunity present itself? You need to grasp it and use it. And that’s exactly what you were doing now.

You grabbed your flashlight and put your shoes on. With the key and the excitement bubbling in your veins you put your ear to the door to see if there was someone outside. Everything was quiet. You slowly opened it trying to make as little sound as possible, closing it afterwards.

You looked down the corridor. It was eerily silent, not a single sound aside from distant ticking of a clock. And it was dark, so dark you could barely see in front yourself.

You were having second thoughts, it was scary.

You slapped your face lightly to psych yourself up. Moms didn’t raise a quitter!

With newfound courage you moved towards where you knew the stairs were located.

Trip was short and, thankfully, without incidents. Now to the next part – getting to the second floor.

You knew that stairs were tricky. The building was old and so many planks would creak when stepped on. Especially it was correct when applied to stairs, half of which creaked so loudly you can hear them even during the most active hours of the day. In the middle of the night it would be similar to an explosion going off in the house, so you had to be particularly careful.

Okay, first step is good, second creaks in the middle so step to the left, third and fourth are okay and so on and so forth.

The stairs conquered you already felt like it was a worthwhile adventure, your brain even decided to add some doubt to your thoughts. ‘You already got so far. This should be enough, no? Just stop and go back to your room, lie down and sleep it off and tomorrow you will go to grandma and give her back the key. You will say that you found it in the garden and were really, really sorry that you didn’t give it back right away. Everything will be good. Everything will be fi…’ You cut off the thought before it had a chance to end.

No, you will do none of those things. You will go to the attic, you will open it and you will find out what the secret was and maybe, maybe, you will give grandma key afterwards.

You walked further down the corridor, darkness and quiet no longer scaring you.

One step. Two steps. Three. There it was. You could see the hatch from where you were. Ladder was already down. And here you were scared of making even more noise while trying to reach and extend it.

You climbed it and finally got your hands on the lock.

The key goes in, the lock goes click and finally you open the hatch.

You climb all the way up and stand in the attic.

Finally, the forbidden land was conquered and by none other than you.

This is what the first person to stand at the top of Mount Everest must have felt like. Elation. Happiness. Relief.

Without any further ado you close the hatch behind yourself and take out the flashlight. It’s time to see your price and seize it.

Flashlight goes click and the bright light floods the room.


	3. Mystery that is no longer a mystery

Sudden bright light caused you to start blinking rapidly.

When your eyes adjusted to brightness you took in the scene in front of you.

Books. Hundreds and hundreds of books; stacks and stacks of them piled up on the floor, on the tables, everywhere you looked – books, books and even more books.

Either your grandma had something to hide, was a hypocritical old hag or liked to be the sole proprietor of books in this household.

Whatever the reason was, you didn’t want to dwell on it for too long. You have better things to do than think about how this place hadn’t seen a duster in what probably is far longer than you had been alive. Like, for example, learning more about all these books.

Maybe they were some old magical grimoires, maybe there were curses in some of them or maybe there were confidential archives that answered all the question people had from the previous century, like who killed Kennedy or something like that. There must have been a reason why all these books were hidden here.

You took the first book you laid your eyes on. It was an adventure book featuring a boy with a dragon on the front cover. Somehow boy looked familiar but you chose to ignore this detail in favor of looking at other books.

There was the next. Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes. You knew neither who this was nor what this was about, but it certainly didn’t feel like an ancient cursed grimoire.

The next book however might have been somewhere up there with black magic. Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa. You put it back quickly goosebumps covering your arms.

Another was some romantic drama that you put somewhere else, because _‘Ew, entire book about people getting cooties.’_ Gross.

Next book, another adventure. Next, fairytales. Epic saga. Book with pictures. Mystical novel. Ghost stories. 

You took book after book and put them back one after another until you gave up with understanding that none of them were occultic or magical, those were just ordinary books that you can find in every bookstore or library. Yes, some of them looked century old and some, weirdly enough, are books that you recognize were published just a couple of years ago, but none of them, in your opinion, warranted being put away into the dusty attic.

You stiffened when you heard a sound from downstairs. No one should be awake at this hour! If you get caught you didn’t know what would happen, but you sure as heck didn’t want to find out.

You turned around and were about to leave attic when something caught your attention. It was the first book you picked up, book about a boy knight and a dragon. You faltered for a moment. Should you take it or not?

In the end you decided that, what the heck, triumph of solved mystery wouldn’t be the only thing you take back with you on this day. With this thought you take the book and go towards the hatch. After making sure that no one is around, you open it and leave as quietly as you came.

You lock the hatch and go to your room.

Journey back was uneventful, or it would be if it wasn’t for grandma. You were just stepping on the last stair when you heard.

“Who is there?”

You stood still, your heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to beat straight out of your chest.

“Who is this?”

You didn’t answer in hope that she will just forget that she heard something. But she didn’t.

You heard a creak from her favourite recliner. She got up.

You had to act quickly before she found you with a book in hands.

You looked around and saw a shelf with a vase on it. If you put book behind the vase there would be just enough space for it to not be visible from her angle of view. You did just that.

When she fully turned and walked towards you, the book was already hidden.

She squinted and there you saw it, recognition on her face.

She looked at you with a frown, clearly displeased that you were not in your bed sleeping.

“___, what are you doing here?”

Lie came quickly.

“I wanted to get some water from kitchen.” Lucky for you, you did have to go through living room to get into the kitchen so she bought your lie easily, creases on her face smoothing out and lips spreading in slight smile.

“I see. Well, don’t just stand there. Come on.”

A quick trip to the kitchen and exchanged goodnights later, you find yourself in your room and this is when you remember. The book, you left it where you hid it.

_‘Well, it’s not like I can go and take it right now.’_ You thought it would be bad if grandma were to catch you one more time in the same night, the last thing you needed was her getting suspicious of you. Better play it safe and wait for a good opportunity. You can only hope that the book is hidden well enough to not be found by grandma.

With these thoughts you laid in your bed.

However sleep doesn’t come easy. You toss and roll around in bed, your thoughts bright and hot, impossible to ignore yet just like the sun impossible to concentrate on.

When you finally exhaust yourself with your constant movements, you feel darkness cocooning you in its embrace. Your eyelids close and you fall into restless sleep filled with weird visions of battlefields and war.


End file.
